Credits
Position 6-3 from ‘Backgammon Boot Camp’ by Walter Trice
XG skin design by Rain
Analysis
One more Boot Camp problem to sharpen our wits for the Grand Prix.
Black is in serious trouble here (only about 8% winning chances from this position) but there’s still a clearly-best move to maximise those chances. What is it?
The key is that Black’s stuck behind a 6-prime, and can’t escape until White crunches. That means 3/1* 2/1 is clearly wrong - Black will have to keep moving and crunch their own board, allowing White to escape easily and having no board left if a shot comes up later.
Similarly 4/1* risks getting another checker sent back, and is likely to keep White on the bar rather than moving forward.
The right approach is 6/5 6/4. You keep a 4-point prime, which could easily trap White’s back checker for several moves. You force White to keep moving forward and increase the chances they’ll have to crunch. And you slow down your own board crunching by making 5s and 6s unplayable.